| Subject: US ready to
help E. Timor refugees return Indonesian
Observer 6th October 1999
US ready to help E. Timor refugees return
JAKARTA (IO) — The American government is ready to
help refugees from East Timor return to their homeland in cooperation with international
organizations such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
private institutions.
"We can provide them basic commodities and security
protection to enable them to return to East Timor, if they like," Deputy US Secretary
of State, for Human Rights, Harold Hongju Koh, said in Kupang yesterday. He made the offer
after meeting with East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) governor, Piet Alexander Tallo.
Koh was accompanied by Director for East Asian and Pacific
Planning and Policy, Karen Brooks, and Second Secretary for Political Affairs of US
Embassy, Ian McCary.
Koh, a Korean-born US diplomat, said that the US agreed to
send back the refugees to their home towns in East Timor after US Secretary of State,
Madeline Albright and Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas held a meeting at UN
headquarters in New York.
Antara quoted Koh as saying that during the meeting in New
York, Ali Alatas called on Albright to visit East Timor as well as NTT where most of the
refugees were beinh housed, and to see their conditions.
"Today we have seen them. We are ready to protect them
so that they can live peacefully in their own towns again," Koh said, adding that the
US government had high regards for Indonesian efforts to send back many of the refugees to
East Timor without any intimidation.
"If they want to stay in any part of Indonesia, we
have no right to urge them to go back to East Timor," he added.
Meanwhile Governor Tallo said that, on Friday (October 8th)
his administration will send back around 500 refugees who are now camping in Kupang living
in large tents erected for them. "We really hope that the International Force for
East Timor (Interfet) will also give their support and provide security for anyone who
wants to go home," he said.
Confiscated firearms After the meeting with Tallo, Koh and
his staff went to NTT military headquarters in Kupang to view firearms and other
sharp-pointed tools, confiscated by the Indonesian police from the various militia groups.
The firearms included 11 semi-automatic AK-47, several
US-made weapons such as M-16 rifles and grenades, around 50 built-up pistols and an
assortment of ammunition.
When Koh and his staff met with the refugees at Kupang
soccer field, many told him that they wanted to go home as soon as possible, though most
of their houses and rice-fields had been set ablaze during clashes between
pro-independence and pro-integration factions.
Good management Meanwhile in Jakarta, Minister of
People’s Welfare and Poverty Eradication, Haryono Suyono, said he will sign a
memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Program, UNHCR and other
fund institutions which have assisted refugees in East Timor as well as those in West
Timor in order to bring about better cordination with the agencies.
"On Friday, we will see one group of refugees
amounting to 500 people return to Dili from Kupang. This will be properly managed, and
they will be guaranteed security, with the co-operation of the Indonesian government and
international institutions such as UNDP, UNHCR , World Food Program and UNICEF ," he
said.
Chartered Hercules planes will be used for the flight from
Kupang to Dili that have been arranged by the Transportation Ministry.
The Minister also disclosed that the Social Ministry and
World Food Program will provide rice and adequate staple food for the refugees. Meanwhile,
the Public Works Ministry and UNHCR are also taking necessary precautions to avoid the
spread of illnesses and diseases due to the rainy season in the refugee camps.
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